The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1887-07-16
" P. P. c."
Happy Result of Miss Fanny's
Interpretation.

The village of Blue Posts, in the
northern part of the State of New York.
was almost as primitive in the summer
of 1886 as it was fifty years before. The
march of civilization and progress
seemed to have gone by it about twenty
miles on either side, for that was about
the distance to any railroad. Blue Posts
is not on the road to anywhere or from
anywhere, and its one grass-grown and
barely discernible highway to the near
est town is rarely Travelled by any thing
but farmers wagon, which in summer
or autumn conveyed spare produce to
market. There was, however, very
little of this traffic, for Blue Posts con-
sumed nearly all it raised. Its wheat
went regularly to the old-fashioned
windmill, where it was converted into
flour which, if somewhat coarse, was
believed by the natives to possess twice
the nutriment of any ground by steam
and purified by some new-fangled pro-
cess. The wool and the flax were still
spun and woven by hand, and thrifty
housewives prided themselves on their
skill with the wheel and loom and
knitting-needles. Little was brought
into Blue Posts from the outside world
save occasional letters, books and
stationery, and for these the demand
was so limited that the postmistress'
son, who twice week rode on slow
and venerable pony to get the mail
from Town, was able to bring all
that was needed, in addition to the
usual quantum of post-office matter
generally about five letters and seven
newspapers. The journey to T--town
was two days affair, for the pony had
to be stabbed there over night, his aged
and knotted limbs being unequal to
more than single trip in twenty-four
hours.
Blue Posts boosted a population of
two hundred and fifty souls, including
one old Indian squaw concerning
whose possession of that super-mun-
dane essence many people have grave
doubts. There were dark rumors that
she was a witch, and many believed in
her powers of forecasting the future.
None knew her age, but her face looked
like pathway on which time had left
its tracks so deeply and so closely that
it seemed well-nigh impossible to
squeeze in another seam or wrinkle.
Tradition had it that Blue Posts had
grown up around her, and she en-
couraged the idea that its prosperity
depended upon her continued existence
an idea which she made take the
practical form of levying contributions
of food and clothing.
A stranger rarely found his way
to Blue Posts, and when he did he
was generally almost as much an
object of fear as wonder. He was
nearly always peddler or tramp,
and in either case his advent was the
signal for the barring of shutters and
the locking of doors-precauton
which at other times were rarely taken.
The masculine gender has been used in
referring to the stranger, for one of
the softer sex had only once penetrated
there in the five years preceding the
date of which l am writing. and she
had come by mistake, her proper desti-
nation being Painted Posts 1t seemed
that she had lost her written directions,
and remembered only that she wanted
to go to some posts. When she arrived
she was penniless, and a subscription
had to be raised in order to get rid of
her.
The population of Blue Posts re-
manned for years at about the figures
previously given, for the natural in
crease was offset by the departure from
time to time of adventurous youths who
felt their energies cramped by its mar
row limits. Occasionally one of these
would come back for brief visit, bear
ing with him the marks of city culture,
that won admiration from the girls, and
excited the envy or, contempt of the
young men. But with all its exclusion
from the outer world, Blue Posts was
not as Ignorant or boorish as might be
imagined. 1t boosted q "school-
ma'am" who had once taught in
Cohoes, and was never tired of descant-
ing on the tremendous excitement and
wonderful glut of amusement that town
afforded; book club existed among the
girls, and if they did not get all the
latest novels, they managed to secure
a supply of sounder literature than the
production of "Ouida, "The Duchess, a."
or ether sensational authors.
Such being the condition of Blue
Posts on the 18th of June. 1886, it is
easy to imagine the agitation into
which its inhabitants were thrown
when the report flew rapidly from
house to house that on the previous
night a stranger had arrived, and had
secured board at Thompson's farm and
given out his intention of staying some
time. The duration he had fixed
varied, according to the REALTORS, from
a week to two years, but all